Josh Hopkins
Created by Mike Kelley (Big Love, Rome) and produced by Robert Del Valle and Alan Poul (Six Feet Under), Swingtown is a dramatized--and highly fanciful--overview of the moral, social and political upheavals of the pre-PC, pre-AIDs 1970s. The series began on the eve of the July 4, 1976, Bicentennial, as Bruce and Susan Miller (Jack Davenport, Molly Parker), a happily married couple with two lovely children (Aaron Howles, Shana Collins]), move into an upscale Chicago lakefront suburb. Almost immediately the Millers find themselves at a party (or more accurately, an orgy) at the home of their new neighbors, Tom and Trina Decker (Grant Show, Lana Parrilla). A pair of Quaalude-dropping swingers, the Deckers are firm subscribers to the Open Marriage Policy--and throughout this and subsequent episode, Tom and Trina do their best to turn the wide-eyed Millers to their hedonistic way of thinking. In stark contrast to Bruce and Susan's new friends are a pair of old ones from their former neighborhood, the prudishly conservative Robert and Janet Thompson (Josh Hopkins, Miriam Shor). Less an accurate portrayal than a gaudy pastiche of the 1970s, the series was filled to overflowing with bad hair styles, leisure suits, mood rings, pet rocks, shag carpets, clips from TV game shows like $10,000 Pyramid and wall-to-wall period music from the likes of Captain and Tennille, David Bowie, Chicago and Seals and Croft. And since this was on "over-the-air" TV rather than cable, the sexual hijinks and excessive drug use were merely hinted at rather than overtly stated. Even so, the CBS debut of Swingtown on June 5, 2008, prompted Brent Bozell of the Parents Television Council to beg viewers not to watch the show, accusing the network of ignoring "common sense broadcast decency standards"--which of course merely served to increase the series' ratings. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Molly Parker, Jack Davenport, (more)
- 2006
A vehicle for the dazzlingly beautiful Rebecca Romijn, the WB comedy drama Pepper Dennis cast the model-turned-actress as the title character, an up-and-coming news reporter for fictional Chicago TV station WEIE. Aspiring to anchor the station's top-rated news broadcast, Pepper Dennis was understandably put out when the job went to handsome Charlie Babcock (Josh Hopkins) -- with whom Pepper had had a one-night stand just before he was hired for the job! Now relegated to the position of Babcock's assistant and occasional on-air replacement, Pepper did her darnedest to hide her jealousy (not to mention her still-strong attraction to Charlie) when anchoring WEIE-TV's characteristic "if it bleeds it leads" news features. Typical of Pepper's assignments was the episode in which, to expose a poker-club prostitution ring, she had to disguise herself as a hooker. Also, in keeping with the tenor of the times (the mid-2000s), Pepper and her colleagues zinged out a great many wisecracks and put-downs aimed toward certain right-wing cable news hosts, notably that guy with the Irish name who was "looking out for you." The rest of the cast included Brooke Burns as Kathy Dinkle, Pepper's whiny, self-centered sister, who moved in with our heroine after the breakup of her marriage (which she unfairly blamed on Pepper); Ms. Dennis' best friend, WEIE's acerbic makeup artist Kimmy Kim; and Rider Strong as Chick, a station cameraman who worshipped Pepper from afar. Created by Gretchen J. Berg and Aaron Harberts, whose previous efforts included the highly regarded but little-watched Wonderfalls, Pepper Dennis debuted April 4, 2006. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- 2006
Debuting August 21, 2006, the hour-long Fox network series Vanished was a serialized drama in the tradition of 24 and Prison Break, this time with a bit of the "procedural" genre (à la Without a Trace) thrown in. Things got under way when Sara Collins (Joanne Kelly), the wife of prominent Georgia senator Jeffrey Collins (John Allen Nelson), abruptly disappeared during a fundraising dinner, the apparent victim of a kidnapping. Assigned to locate -- and, possibly rescue -- Mrs. Collins were FBI agents Graham Kelton (Gale Harold) and Lin Mei (Ming-Na). While Lin approached her job with a cynical sense of humor and an abundance of energy, Kelton was morose and taciturn, still blaming himself for the horrible death of a youthful kidnap victim which occurred right before his eyes. As the plot thickened, it became obvious that the two agents had more than a common, everyday abduction on their hands: the number-one suspect was killed off at the very start of the series; the trail was strewn with bizarre, contradictory clues and DaVinci Code-like cryptic messages; and finally, not only had Sara Collins mysteriously vanished on previous occasions, there was every indication that she wasn't really Sara Collins at all. Clearly, the missing Mrs. Collins was but a cog in the wheel of a larger conspiracy, in which (naturally) no one could be completely trusted. Other characters included Rebecca Gayheart as an unusually ubiquitous investigative reporter and Eddie Cibrian as Kelton and Mei's enigmatic FBI superior. Vanished was created by Josh Berman of CSI fame. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Gale Harold, John Allen Nelson, (more)
A grieving mother attempting to deal with the death of her daughter travels to the former haunts of the deceased young woman to face her grief and capture her child's true essence on this touching tale of love and loss starring Academy Award-winning actress Diane Keaton. Caring mother Natalie (Keaton) always treasured the intimate honesty of the relationship she shared with her kindly daughter Sara (Alexa Davalos), so when Sara is killed in a tragic car accident and Natalie discovers that her daughter wasn't the person she thought she knew, the devastation she feels is earth-shaking. Now determined to find out just who her daughter really was in life, Natalie takes a trip to the beat-up beach house where Sara spent many of her summers to speak with the friends who knew her best and finally begin the long and painful healing process. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Diane Keaton, Tom Everett Scott, (more)
The debut feature from television producer Robert Moresco, One Eyed King is an ensemble crime drama detailing the trials and tribulations of several characters living together in the same Hell's Kitchen neighborhood. Starring Armand Assante, William Baldwin, Jim Breuer, Bruno Kirby, Chazz Palminteri, and Jason Gedrick, the film had its premiere at the 2001 Boston Film Festival. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- William Baldwin, Armand Assante, (more)
